Kickstarter

Stoic released The Banner Saga last year, and it was a great strategy role-playing game. It had characters on a square grid, drama, and lots of death. Basically, it was ripe for conversion to a board game.
Today at GenCon, St...

Yooka-Laylee, the Banjo-Kazooie spiritual successor that did incredibly well on Kickstarter a few months back, is apparently getting published by Team17. Best known for the Worms series, it has also been publishing indie titl...

The studio behind Shadowrun Returns, Harebrained Schemes, is planning to resurrect another classic PC series in the near future, trading in net-running cyberpunks for the towering mechs of the BattleTech universe. The studio ...

If you’re a Sonic the Hedgehog fan, you may be aware of fangames by the name of Sonic Before the Sequel and Sonic After the Sequel. Developed by Felipe ‘LakeFeperd’ Ribeiro Daneluz, the games were really im...

Keiji Inafune and Comcept are really trying to sell Red Ash: The Indelible Legend, Inafune's follow up to Mighty No. 9 and spiritual successor to Mega Man Legends. Its Kickstarter campaign ends in five days and it is hardly m...

Jul 25 //
Kyle MacGregor[embed]296626:59685:0[/embed]
The work-in-progress was developed by Hyde Inc. using placeholder assets, some of which were pinched from Mighty No. 9, to give prospective backers a vague idea what Red Ash might be like.
Hyde also showed off a character model of protagonist Beck that looks more representative of the concept art. Between that, the prototype, and this mock-up of a screenshot, maybe you can conjure a mental image of how the final product will turn out, you know, should it ever get funded.
Red Ash: Prototype Check [Comcept via Kickstarter]

Too little, too late?Red Ash hasn't become an overnight success for Comcept. Unlike Mighty No. 9, the project is struggling to meet its $800,000 Kickstarter goal, having raised just over half that with 9 days to go.
With the clock winding down, Comcept is trying to turn the campaign's fortunes around, announcing a potential PlayStation 4 release and sharing some early footage of a pre-alpha prototype.

The Red Ash Kickstarter isn't looking so good, but now it has another weapon up its sleeve to vie for your cash -- a console goal. If the campaign nets $1,000,000, the game will make it to PS4 as well as PC. A recent pol...

Back in the foggy past of early 2013, a game called Zombie Playground hit Kickstarter. Being inspired by a popular piece of art by Jason Chan (as seen above and also here), the game promised to feature kids caught up in the z...

Korean modder Kid Nocon began his unofficial HD remake of the original Shenmue last year, before any of us knew that Shenmue 3 would burst onto the scene and become the most funded video game Kickstarter yet.
Nocon's o...

Hey Star Citizen fans. Are you eagerly awaiting that FPS mode that was meant to come out back in April then got delayed for an unspecified amount of time? I have some good news and some bad news for you. The good news is that...

I'm guessing everyone would agree at this point that Comcept should have waited for Mighty Number 9 to ship before it launched the Red Ash Kickstarter. The game is not doing even a fraction as well as comparable projects had ...

Games about pregnancy are more popular than ever. Even the Minions are getting in on the act. Though most of these games are fairly disturbing, few of them are intentionally so. Devastated Dreams, a spiritual sequel to Never...

Most funded video game in site's historyThe crowdfunding campaign for Shenmue 3 has drawn to a close, raising a total of $6,333,295.
That sum makes the project the most funded video game campaign in the history of Kickstarter, beating out the previous record holder...

"The one consistent theme throughout all of them was that they loved to party."
With that, I'm down to watch Insert Coin, a documentary about Midway (Smash TV, NBA Jam, Robotron 2084) during its prime. Producer Josh Tsui, the...

In case you hadn't heard, Corey Marshall, the English voice actor for Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki, is returning to voice the character in Shenmue 3. As of this week, Masaya Matsukaze has been confirmed as well, meaning both the orig...

Broken Age was one of the early successes of Kickstarter, managing to raise $3.3 million of a $400,000 goal. It took a while between the two parts of the game, but eventually Double Fine made good on their promise and Broken ...

Win one of 10 copies! Thanks to our friends at Fugitive Games (Sorry I took so long Alex!), we have 10 copies of Into the Stars for you lovely folks to win! What is Into the Stars you ask? Here's the synopsis from the Steam page:
"Take the role of...

Jul 16 //
Chris Carter
Lack of transparency
When Shenmue 3 was announced during E3, the whole world (myself included) went crazy. Series creator Yu Suzuki was teasing it a day before, but no one really could have expected it given how long the series had been on hiatus. Then the questions starting coming, and things got a little more complicated.
It came out the day after the announcement that even though the team was asking for money on Kickstarter, Sony would be funding the game. I kind of feel bad for Suzuki as he had to apologize for "misleading" people, but the entire "Sony is funding some of it, but we're not actually going to tell you how much" business was a bit weird. That's definitely something that should have been explained at E3.
If there's one thing we learned about backers over the years, it's that they want an idea of what they're contributing to, and where their money is going. With Shenmue 3, there are still some doubts though in terms of the latter point Yu Suzuki has confirmed that all of the campaign proceeds are going directly to the game, and not Sony.
Stretch goal wackiness
Yes, one of their stretch goals, one they haven't reached yet, is actually a "new Kickstarter [cash] record." I'm speechless.
While the campaign runners did end up catching on to the concept of stretch goals, it took them days to scramble to come up with ideas. At first, the campaign only had a mere few mentions of what they'd do if they surpassed their funding amount.
The days of "let's just see how much we get on Kickstarter and be surprised later!" are over. Campaigns need to think about the big picture and keep the train running with constant engagement and new goals and activities. IGA's Bloodstained campaign did this impressively, with multiple social media metagames and daily stretch goal updates. Maybe the Shenmue team can up their funding with a good post-Kickstarter PayPal campaign and reach that lofty $10 million mark.
Of course, a lot of future Kickstarter success is going to be contingent on luck and timing. Having Sony announce Shenmue 3 during its E3 press conference did wonders for the campaign, yet Inafune is struggling to have lightning strike twice with Red Ash -- his unofficial Mega Man Legends project, announced at Anime Expo.
The Shenmue 3 team has your money -- now we just wait for the finished product. As for myself, I backed it at the $29 level. Shenmue means a lot to me as a series, and it got me through some really tough times. If the campaign was handled a bit better and was more focused, I may have upped my pledge.

But everyone loves Shenmue so it's okayThe Shenmue 3 Kickstarter has surpassed five million in funding with just under a day and a half to go, but creator Yu Suzuki has insisted that they need roughly $10 million to have a fully realized open world.
It's shooting for the stars for sure, but a number of different choices could have been made to bump the campaign up significantly.

I mostly remember Chime as a game that had one super easy achievement worth 50 Gamerscore. It did a thing where proceeds went toward charity, so just buying the game was enough of an achievement, I guess. I was pretty bad at...

While Yu Suzuki may need $10 million to see a "fully realized open world Shenmue 3," he notes that $5 million is good enough to accomplish most of what he set out to do. And it looks like that's what he'll get, as Shenm...

Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us concept artist, John Sweeney, has produced an exclusive print to support the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter.
There are eight large prints (24H x 47W) and 100 smaller prints (16H x 31...

Red Ash: The Indelible Legend isn't having quite as successful of a Kickstarter campaign as Mighty No. 9, which was basically funded instantly. It's currently sitting at roughly $300,000 of its $800,000 goal, and for the game...

While I have my reservations about the Shenmue 3 Kickstarter, which is still not even halfway towards a "true open world," folks have thrown money at it with aplomb. Over the weekend, perhaps spurred by a false sense of freed...

[Update: Looks like the Kickstarter is being cancelled after the creator was sent a large amount of negative feedback.
"We are going to cancel the project. Duo(sic) to the big amount of negativ(sic) feedback and th...

I haven't been following Shenmue 3 too closely on Kickstarter, but my fingers are crossed for director Yu Suzuki. I hope the project turns out the way he envisions it and fans are satisfied (as if that's even possible). Today...

A few months back we got our first look at Renoir and I expressed some cautious optimism since the film noir genre is underused in games but the reveal trailer had no information on gameplay past the puzzle-platformer genre ...

Jul 02 //
Alessandro Fillari
Into the Stars (PC, [previewed], Linux, Mac)Developer: Fugitive GamesPublisher: Iceberg InteractiveRelease date: July 9, 2015 on PC (Early Access)Set in the far future where mankind has populated the outer reaches of the known universe, you take on the role of a captain for the last human ship carrying a most precious cargo. After a war with an alien race destroys the last colony of humans, you must lead the remaining survivors and your crew on an exodus through uncharted territory in order to find a new home in Titus Nova, located in the far end of the galaxy. Along the way, you'll recruit new crew members, trade with neutral alien factions, and wage an on-going struggle with the aliens that destroyed your home planet. With the fate of many lives in your hands, you'll have to make many tough decisions in order to secure the future of humanity, while also keeping your one and only ship in working order.
The developers weren't shy about sharing their influences for Into the Stars. From Battlestar Galactica, to Firefly, Star Trek, and even Guardians of the Galaxy -- the folks at Fugitive Games wanted a space adventure that emulated the same wonder and awe from classic Space Operas, while injecting a tense and hectic atmosphere that gave players the sense that one wrong move could lead to disaster. Storytelling was an important area of focus for the devs, and while there aren't really any cutscenes or dramatic set-piece moments, the players will be able to create their own captain, crew, and ship parameters (with adjustable stats and areas of focus) from scratch -- giving them freedom in how they play and choose to forge their way across the galaxy.With an entire galaxy map to explore, you'll have to choose wisely where you want to guide your ship, as many different resources are consumed during travel, and dangerous foes might rear their ugly heads. Taking place on over 90 tiles shown on the galactic map, each space represents a sector of the galaxy that can be explored. Players can freely steer their ship within the tile and explore at their own pace. Each tile possess their own unique points of interests, planets, culture, resources, and other sources of intrigue. While some randomness comes into play, the developers wanted to give the entire universe a hand-crafted look and not rely on procedural generation to fill in the blanks. And the results are quite stunning. The visuals within Into the Stars are a feast to behold, and the work from the Unreal Engine 4 shows great promise. From soaring past gas-giants, derelict spacecrafts, to massive floating artifacts from alien cultures, there's much to explore within the galaxy, and it'll take more than one playthrough to witness all the visuals. Though be warned, spending too much time in a certain section of the galaxy will attract the attention of hostile forces that wish to wipe you out.Taking cues from titles like XCOM and FTL, the developers at Fugitive Games wanted to have a strong focus on crew and resource management while gathering resources and keeping ahead of danger. Your ship will need resources and a strong crew to keep flying, and in order to keep both on the up, you'll have to take risks and even make some sacrifices. When you come across planets and installations throughout your travels, you can send probes or Away Teams (a capable team of explorers) down to the point of interest to search for resources and valuables. Though bare in mind, these places can often be dangerous and result in some deaths or harm to your ship if things go south. During one instance, we sent our away team to a remote planet and found many valuable resources with no incidents. Unfortunately, our luck wasn't so great when we went to a derelict human spaceship. An accident occurred which resulted in the deaths of some crew. [embed]295154:59311:0[/embed]As a whole, Into the Stars is a game about taking risks. While some cases may call for the occasional space heroics, most of the time you'll have to play it safe. During planetary examinations, sometimes its better to send probes, which result in a mini-game where you mine materials. Though keep in mind, the lives of your crew and your cargo of human survivors are a valuable resource as well. While traveling in space, you'll come across merchants that may sell goods at the cost of valuable materials vital to the function of your ship. While giving away minerals may be easy, in some cases merchants may request some humans for the trade. It's a pretty grim prospect, and though it may be easy to turn down a request when its first presented to you, you might be in a tight spot and have to entertain the offer. By any means necessary, your ship has to make to Titus Nova, and you may have to make some decisions that could compromise your own captain's humanity.But what would any space opera be without epic ship battles? When you encounter foes that seek to raid your ship, or just want to wipe out what's left of humanity, you'll have to defend the vessel and command your crew in a battle of wits and instinct. Unlike other space-sims, battles take place in quasi-term based format within the confines of the ship. Within the bridge, you have a clear view of the attackers, and you'll have to simultaneously adjust shields, make repairs, and strike against the enemy when the time comes. Initially, I found the battles to be a bit confusing and somewhat dense. It's all in menus, and you have to keep track of different crew attributes and ship parameters to stay one step ahead of your enemies. When making repairs, your view switches over to the engine room as you monitor hull breaches and causalities, all while the enemies are still attacking. While the smaller foes can be easily defeated, facing groups of enemy ships and some of the more massive cruisers can result in somewhat lengthy battles.I was largely impressed with Into the Stars. While we're definitely seeing an influx of space-sims as of late, this title subscribes more to the technical school of thought, rather than the focus on action and explosions. While I admit I got a bit lost during some moments, and had to consult some tutorials, I found Into the Stars to be an incredibly ambitious game that seeks to install a simultaneous sense of dread and awe from players. Not many games can get me feeling nervous while traveling through a lush and colorful galaxy filled with rich cultures and places to explore. If you're looking for something a bit more introspective and technical for your spacefaring needs, then you'll definitely want to keep an eye on Into the Stars.Into the Stars - Early Access [Steam]

Find a crew, find a job, keep flyingThe Space Sim genre has been one of the most ambitious and sought after titles from developers and fans alike. Ever since the early days of gaming, there's been a desire to craft a title that allows for exploration across a s...

The voice actor who played Ryo in the English versions of Shenmue 1 and 2, Corey Marshall, has been confirmed for Shenmue 3.
"We would all like to thank Corey-san for coming back," says an announcement on the Shenmue 3 K...

Jun 29 //
Caitlin Cooke
Subject 13 (PC) Developer: Paul Cuisset , Microids Publisher: Gravity Europe SAS Release: May 28, 2015
Subject 13 begins dramatically with your character, Franklin Fargo (yes, that’s his actual name), attempting suicide via driving into a river. As he descends into the water, a mysterious event occurs which transports him into an abandoned research facility inhabited by a strange disembodied robotic voice. Franklin (otherwise known as Subject 13) is encouraged by this entity to use his intellect to solve puzzles and make it out of the compound -- and thus begins the challenge.
The gameplay has a nice balance to it, starting off with fairly simple concepts as an introduction but not taking too long to get your mind ticking. Most of the challenges are spin-offs of popular games and brain teasers like Reversi, Minesweeper, sliding puzzles, etc. If you aren’t a fan of these kinds of puzzles -- especially sliders since they make up approximately half of the puzzles -- then this game may not be for you.
There’s also a bit of traditional point-and-click detective work along with finding items as you search for ways to make it past obstacles. The game’s inventory allows you to inspect, rotate, and zoom in on any item -- which adds additional complexity to the puzzles, as many of them require you to modify, combine, or inspect items to find solutions. If you get stuck, a hint is available at any time, however I found them to be simple and would often give me information I had already figured out on my own.
Contextualized pointers are extremely helpful and help you determine if an object is movable, or requires an item to move forward. When solving more complex puzzles, the game transitions to a clear first-person viewpoint which makes the puzzles easy to work with and simple to back out of with the scroll of a mouse wheel. Luckily, there were only a few moments when I felt puzzle logic or solutions were obtuse and I needed to search for help online.
While Subject 13 isn’t extremely long, the pacing is just right in terms of the story. Small plot elements are sprinkled throughout in “testimonies”, recordings from researchers who had lived in the complex. The mysterious voice that guides you throughout the game also occasionally asks questions to which you can respond and in turn receive background info on Franklin. Strange occurrences become more and more frequent as you progress, revealing more of the interesting details of the story. Eerie background music is perfectly stationed throughout, amplifying the mysterious setting.
The plot and story elements seemed to borrow heavily from other games (ie Portal and Mass Effect come to mind), however Subject 13 is interesting in its own right. The only real downside to the story was the quality of the dialogue and voice acting -- unfortunately the latter wasn’t very good, and some of the dialogue came off as cheesy. The writing could have also used some proofing, as there were times when the dialogue didn’t match up with the subtitles, or just didn’t quite flow well. However it was a valiant effort for an indie game with only two voice actors.
Being a puzzle fanatic, I really enjoyed Subject 13, but I was disappointed with a few elements. For example, sometimes the action wheel where you could view or take an item wouldn’t connect, depending on which angle you were viewing the object from. More than a few times I found that I missed clues because of this. I also felt it was a bit of a let down to make the last puzzle of the game an extremely large, glorified Minesweeper. I was hoping that with the ingenuity of some of the previous puzzles that the game would go out with a bang.
That being said, Subject 13 as a whole is thoughtfully challenging. I can see it working really well for casual and hardcore puzzle fans alike as it intermingles timeless puzzles with original concepts. Despite the storyline having some slightly cheesy and generic moments, it was intriguing enough to keep me interested and engaged. Although it doesn’t hold a candle to its predecessors in the genre, it’s definitely worth a play if you’re a fan of exploration puzzlers.
[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the developer.]

Logic always winsPoint-and-click puzzle adventures set in an abandoned world were always my favorite games to play growing up. There’s something exciting about uncovering the story of a desolate world via solving puzzles -- games like T...

It's getting late. Have you applied the minty paste to the exposed part of your skeleton? If so, let good old Uncle Jack read you a bedtime story. It will be fun! You won't have nightmares. Probably.
One of the neat things a...